Tag: National League

The All-Star vote, that is. The front runners in the NL All-Star Game vote were announced today and there are no Cardinals players on the list. Not even our beloved Yadier Molina, the best catcher in baseball, who was the recipient of the 2012 Gold Glove and the 2012 Platinum Glove, is #1 on the list. Yadi trails the Giants’ Buster Posey by 300,000 votes. This is a travesty. The Cardinals have the best record in baseball and none of their players are in the lead at their positions.

There is a way to rectify this and you can help. If you have not filled out your All-Star ballot, do it now! You do not have to attend a Major League game to get a paper All-Star Game ballot, although you certainly can if you’re able to get to a game. You can place your All-Star Game ballot vote online. This is much easier and there are no possibilities of “hanging chads.” You can vote up to 25 times per email address. If you hook up your ballot to your MLB.com account, you can vote an additional 10 times. Okay, maybe that’s stuffing the ballot box. LOL! Here’s the direct link to the All-Star Game ballot: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2013/ballot.jsp?tcid=ASG13_News_Stack

You can’t vote for pitchers, since those are chosen by the AL and NL team managers, but you can vote for position players (and the DH for the American League). The Cards have several deserving players. Besides the aforementioned Mr. Molina, Carlos Beltran deserves to be an All-Star. He has been awesome this season. Carlos is currently 4th in the outfield voting field. Matt Carpenter has been playing quite well at 2B. If I could vote for pitchers, I would vote for Lance Lynn as a starter and Edward Mujica as the closer. They both have great records this year.

As you may know, whichever league wins the All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series. The National League has won the last three All-Star Games and (you guessed it) the National League has won the last three World Series – 2010, Giants; 2011, Cardinals; and 2012, Giants. (Hey, that means it’s the Cards’ turn again! LOL!) So we want to make sure that we load the All-Star Game with Cardinals players.

Something came up last night, so I was unable to post my NL Central predictions. (Sorry, Dan. Hopefully this won’t ruin my chances to sing the National Anthem at UCB weekend.) So I thought I’d pull a doubleheader and post both my NL Central and NL West predictions tonight. So here we go:

2013 National League Central

1. Reds – I predict the Reds will finish first in the division again this year. If Joey Votto and and Todd Frazier have a good year, no one will be able to touch them.

2. Cardinals – Just like last year (and perhaps forever now), the Cards are without Chris Carpenter’s mighty arm. And just like last year, the Cards were plagued with injuries to starting players during spring training – Freese’s sore back, Beltran’s broken toe, and Motte’s arm injury. The backup players will have to hold down the fort until the injured players return. It was good that the Cards signed Wainwright to a long term contract.

3. Brewers – The Brewers signed Kyle Lohse, and we see how that worked out with Jeff Suppan. Ryan Braun’s steroids accusation may overshadow the Brewers. Nyger Morgan is not with the team anymore, however – he is far, far away in Japan.

4. Pirates – Andrew McCutcheon is a great centerfielder, but one player does not a team make, and the Pirates will once again not make the playoffs. The last couple of years, the Pirates have had a great first half of the season, but collapsed down the stretch.

5. Cubs – The Cubs are the perennial last place finisher. Even drawing Theo Epstein away from the BoSox didn’t help the Cubs last year. Ex-Cards pitcher Edwin Jackson should boost the starting rotation and young slugger Anthony Rizzo should help the offense, but once again, it’s not the Cubs’ year this year.

2013 National League West Predictions

1. Giants – They have won the 2 of the last World Series. When the Giants are healthy, they’re a potent team. They need Tim Lincecum to find his happy place and pitch like the Cy Young winner he is.

2. Dodgers – Magic Johnson now owns the Dodgers and he likes to win. Will our old friend Mark McGwire be an effective hitting coach for the Dodgers? Will Skip Schumacher finally find a home? We’ll find out the answers to those questions.

3. Diamondbacks – The D’backs could not repeat as division champions last year, and they won’t be in the playoffs this year, either. They did make some moves in the offseason, however.

4. Padres – The Padres play in a pitcher’s park and they have do have some good hurlers, but it won’t be enough to go to the playoffs.

5. Rockies – The Dodgers’ offseason acquisitions made the NL West a tough division, so there has to be a team at the bottom of the heap and that’s the Rockies. There are no players in the farm system to provide help.

NL Playoff Projections

Wild Cards – Cardinals, Braves

NLDS – Nationals v. Cardinals, Braves v. Giants

NLCS – Cardinals v. Giants

World Series – Angels v. Cardinals; Cardinals win World Series

I hope you have enjoyed my predictions. Who’s to say whether they come true or not? I’m just happy that the regular season is just a few days away and soon we’ll be able to watch baseball! Thanks for reading and see you next time!

The United Cardinals Bloggers’ March assignment is for each blogger to post their predictions for 2013. Yesterday, I made my predictions for the American League. Over the next three days, I will take a look at each division in the National League and make my predictions.

1. Nationals – The Nats were the beast of the East last year, and they should finish in first place again this year. They will learn from their mistakes in the playoffs. Hopefully, ace Stephen Strasburg will be able to pitch more than his “pre-determined” innings limit.

2. Braves – The Braves made some nice moves this offseason by upgrading their outfield with B.J. Upton, Jason Heyward and Justin Upton. The new look outfield and the strong pitching will make them contenders, but nothing will stop the Nats.

3. Phillies – This year will not be kind to the Phillies. Roy Halladay needs to have a good season and with the exception of Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard, the players are getting old.

4. Mets – The Mets are still paying Johan Santana’s salary, which will limit them in getting good players. They also lost Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and R.A. Dickey, and they are now in rebuilding mode.

5. Marlins – The trade of most of their good players to the Blue Jays will surely hurt the Marlins. They are in a rebuilding mode. A large stadium with few fans attending games will not help morale.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my predictions. Wish I could predict the winning lottery numbers! Thanks for reading – see you next time!